Each special need of the driver is addressed after being road tested and before they purchase a vehicle to determine what modifications are needed and whether they even should be driving, Hegberg said.

Dr. Gary Kritzberg, a quadriplegic and president of Accessible Living in Yorkville, a company providing equipment and home modification for the physically challenged, found a modified vehicle to be unfeasible.

Kritzberg said he would have needed metal (cup type) holders into which his hands would be placed to allow wrist movements to operate controls; he has no hand or finger movement.

"Although I could pass the test, it would have cost me about $80,000 and I still don't feel secure enough to be on the road," he said. "If I got into some kind of difficulty, there wouldn't be anything I could do on my own."